The image is crystal clear and Iím not noticing any artifacts based size vs distance but IĎm not using an AT screen. If thereís one problem Iíve found so far its that will a screen this big that covers about 75% of the wall it lights the room up during any bright scene. Iím running it in eco-mode right now while using the computer and itís so bright Itís like I have the blinds open w/sunlight coming in. I would not use this big of a screen vs room size if the walls/ceiling/floor are bright colours.

Iím looking forward to hearing about your projector, are you also getting the AE4000?

Sounds awesome, I might have to move my couch a little more forward than planned My room is very dark with black ceiling/black carpet and medium green walls, and I don't have a positive gain screen (Carada standard) so I hope reflection isn't too bad. I do hear the brightness on the newer projectors is more than what you need in most scenarios.

I have the 6500UB. I couldn't pass up on the rebate for $400 and a free bulb, plus I paid a good price to begin with. I was very close to waiting for the 4000, I love Panasonic and love that it is black, but their pricing up here is ridiculous. I can purchase it in the US for about $1000 less but then you have no warranty coverage. I actually did this for a 50" Panny plasma recently but I am more familiar with the TV's and they've been reliable, I am not familiar as much with projectors and didn't want to chance it. Even to purchase an AE3000 three months ago was $900 more than the 6500UB, and I think down there it's cheaper. My buddy has the 1080UB and is happy which helped my decision as well.

While researching I read about how Panasonic over charges in Canada. I was on the fence for a long time on whether to get the Epson or Panasonic. I was leaning toward the Epson because word on the street was that the 4000 wasnít coming to the U.S., but when it was announced and I read the specs my decision was made.

So my movie watching plans got all shot to hell when I went to buy a VGA and HDMI cable at Fryís and ended up bringing home an Onkyo TX-NR3007. Have to say so far Iím very impressed and between the Oppo BDP-83, Panasonic AE4000 and now this I have way to many new toys to play with and hopefully review.

First impression on the Ohkyo is that Itís heavy. Following that the next thing I noticed is that It was extremely easy to set up compared to my Denon. If you stay with the presets for inputs it pretty much sets up itself. 6 HDMI inputs means I can ditch the HDMI switch.

It auto detects the Audyssey mic being plugged in and loads the calibration screen. Took about 30 minutes to run the setup for 7.1. It set my L/R M80s to 40Hz, my center M80 to 50Hz and all 4 QS8s to 100 Hz.

I put in the usual movies/music I test with and immediately noticed that unlike my Denon this time Audyssey didnít make my speakers sound like crap. At first I really couldnít tell if Audyssey was doing anything until I got to some bass heavy scenes and clearly noticed how it smoothed out the bass. From what Iíve heard so far I feel no need to even check the auto setup with my SPL meter as it sounds that good. Based on the auto setup and Audyssey plus how Dolby PLIIx sounds on the Onkyo I can only assume something in my Denon is, as I suspected, defective. Actually the impressiveness of the sound from the Onkyo reminds me of how the Denon sounded when I first got it. So Iím suspecting something happened to it.

As for the Panasonic AE4000 I determined that the frame creation feature is in fact working. During an early scene in the 2001 Blu-ray as a satellite moves across the screen there was a lot motion judder. When I turned on the frame creation it just sailed smoothly across the screen. Iím still not sure if Iím noticing the hyper vividness people complain about. If I am seeing it itís not always happening but seems to come and go.

Iím now running in eco-mode for all inputs not just the computers. I tried out high altitude mode and could clearly hear the fan running, however under normal operation I donít hear the fan from my listening position about 4-5 feet away. I bumped up the brightness a little bit as some scenes seemed a little dark lacking some shadow detail. A nice surprise was that it didnít effect the VGA output a problem I had on my HDTV where to get the brightness right for the DVD input it made things to bright for the computers so I then had to calibrate them separately using the video card.

Thanks for mentioning that. I should find out now if itís going to crap out on me while Iím still in the 30 day return window.

Iíve been playing ďloudĒ Psychedelic Trance (deep rapid bass beat) for two hours at 100dB average. First half hour was in 7.1 then switched over to ďpure audioĒ seems to be Onkyoís version of ďpure directĒ so only the L/R M80s are working. FYI my M80s are 11.5í from my listening position.

The amp section of the receiver is very warm but no hotter than the Denon 2807 would get playing around 85dB. Iím describing ďvery warmĒ as I can feel the heat but can hold my hand on it w/o a second thought.

When I first bumped up the volume I set it to where my ears told me I usually played the Denon. I checked the SPL meter and it was 8dB higher. Scary thing is I could really listen to the M80s at 100dBs now because it doesnít feel uncomfortable. Thing I really like about the M80s is unlike many other speakers Iíve heard which tend to have the high frequencies lag at higher volumes the highs on the M80s sound just the same when I turn them up.

Note my equipment rack it just an open storage rack in a den. The room is closed but the air is being exchanged with outside air via a dual fan. Iíve turned off the fan I usually have blowing on my equipment rack for this test.

Iíll have to read the manual more closely but apparently this has more than one amp which if Iím not using some combination of outputs I can bridge with the front L/R for more power. Not sure thatís necessary and then Iíd have to use double hearing protection.

So how long playing just the M80s is a good test, Iíd like to take my ear-defenders off now.

I decided to go ahead and make it fail so just after posting that I bumped it up to 105dB and about 5 minutes later it went into protect mode. Never noticed any distortion. I let it cool down for about a minute and turned it back on and am now playing at a more normal for me anyway 80dB average.

I played my Denon 2807 that loud once but not even for 5 minutes but it was un-listenable above about 95dB. The Onkyo sounded fine right up till it stopped sounding at all.

I imagine if anyone was going to be playing 105dB at 11.5 feet their going to be buying an amp anyway. It got warm enough that I would recommend good ventilation but Iím not seeing any problem with how it performed.

If you ever listen in multichannel stereo (or just want to do more screwing around) you might check how the results change if you run in 5/7 channel stereo mode (if you weren't already) and then crank up the volume.

That's the only way I've managed to get my Denon 3808 to shut down (also at crushing volumes), so it might be worth making sure that it doesn't shut down at lower volumes when running all channels at once.

I thought that might be the hardest test but wasnít sure so I tried the two modes 7.1 Dolby PLIIx and 2ch the ones I mostly use. Iíve occasionally used multi-channel stereo for some TV shows. Just for kicks Iíll give it a try tomorrow as I donít think the neighbors will appreciate me pumping out 100dB though it was only hitting about 70dB at the nearest property line when I went outside and measured it during the earlier test.

I was very happy with my 2807 and would be happy to buy another Denon however no one seemed to have a Denon model I wanted locally and I didnít feel like ordering over the internet when another brand was available. Plus this gives me a chance to try something new. To many variables to know why (newer, better tech, Audyssey works/is better version) but this Onkyo blows my older Denon away. No need to compare them directly at all. Itís not as stark a difference as moving from the HDTV to the projector but itís about half way there.